2002-08-13 - 10:44 p.m.
OK....before I move on to something new....I feel obligated to acknowledge that the Group Captain is now pouting because I have not fully thanked him for putting me on his blogroll. So please do turn your attention over to him...click on over and say hello. Since it was quite an ordeal to get on to his blogroll....I guess I do owe him just a speck more gratitude (even though I already profusely thanked him on his own blog!) So a big tip o'the hat to the good ole Mr. Group Captain!

And now, for something new! A silly thing.

I was hanging around with a friend of mine while he scanned job listings on the internet. He was scanning through these listings rather quickly, and I wasn't paying a lot of attention...but one of the listings jumped out at me.....I thought it said they were looking for someone with "sun tanning booth skills....and government/defense knowledge"! Now this really freaked me out...I mean, why would a company that has something to do with our national defense want somebody who has tanning booth skills???? And the company had a funny name too...sounded like some sort of fast food restaurant! This freaked me out even more....a fast food restaurant, with tanning booths...that has something to do with our national defense?!?!?

So I had to go back and find that listing!! I mean, what was our world comming to???? Oh.....well..um...hmmm...I guess I was just reading a little to fast....no need to panic! (Ooops!) Turns out, what it really said was, "Preferred Knowledge: Sun workstation skills. Required Knowledge: Government/defense industry knowledge. Company name: Chili!soft". Ok...so it's a software company....they meant "Sun microsystems" not "Sun tanning booths". Anyone could make that mistake, right?! (And you have to admit...the name does sound like a fast food restaurant!!)

2002-08-11 - 10:25 p.m.
Alright, I've got a couple things to say.....first of all, if you have sent me email recently, and are waiting for a response....please know that my email server has decided to stop talking to me! If I'm lucky, I can get one email to go out....every other day! (even though I can still receive email!) But basically, I haven't been able to send much of anything. So be patient....or send it again, in hopes that you will get through on some magic moment, and I can instantly reply before the hole closes up again.

Next thing, if you're coming here in search of info about the infamous Sewing Genie.....please take a look over there on the left of your screen....I've added a Sewing Genie FAQ link! Click on that for everthing I know about the darned thing....and bookmark it!! If you still have more questions, email me, sign my guestbook, or leave a note in comments.....then check back to the FAQ page to see if I answered it. I try to email everybody back.....but right now, no can do.

And finally, now that you've given the big hello to Acidman......you must go over and say hello to Skits! Now, Skits.....when the heck did you put me on your blogroll????? I know you linked to me in a previous post, but I only just noticed today that you added me to your roll! (And I've started getting hits from that!) Thank you, Skits! See you at BlogCon!!

2002-08-10 - 9:07 p.m.
Hey there! Why don't you all click on over and say a big Hello to Acidman.....he just added me to his blogroll, and I must thank him properly. Thank you, Acidman! Be careful, though....his blog is not for the faint of heart....be sure you have some boiled peanuts and white zinfandel on hand, in case he attacks!

2002-08-09 - 11:01 p.m.
Instead of doing the Friday Five this week, I thought I would make up my own Friday Two! So here you go:

1. What would it take for you to send something back at a restaurant?

Generally, I never send anything back.....unless it is really, really wrong. I'm putting this question out mainly because at a restaurant tonight, there were two women near me who sent several things back....mainly drinks! To start with, they had ordered some sort of complicated cocktails...and the bartender just couldn't make them quite right. (Well, I have been known to do the same thing...but I usually try to live with whatever the bartender attempted.) These women sent the drinks back twice!! My friend and I jokingly asked if we could have their rejects! Then they sent back the next round! Hmmm...just a little too picky don't you think????

2. If you live in an apartment(or when you stay at a hotel), would you ever knock on the wall because your neighbor is being too loud??

Well...we've got a neighbor who knocks on the wall when we are just watching TV. This person usually lets us watch TV until 11:00pm....then we've got to shut it down.....we can't even whisper, or she knocks on the wall! But tonight, Friday night, the night when everybody around here stays up quite late....she's knocking on the wall at 8:00pm!!! We always take great care to be quiet....really, we're never here...(as you well know, we're always travelling.)....and it's rare for us to even watch TV....so we were shocked when she knocked on the wall so early!!

Of course, there are times when knocking on the wall....or sending things back...is entirely justified. Tell me your stories....to knock or not to knock?!?

2002-08-08 - 9:39 p.m.The Hollywood Bowl. If you ever have the opportunity to go see a concert there....you must go....no matter who is playing!! It was, of course, amazing! Yes, I know, I say everything is amazing....but this...was...amazing. And Tony Bennett was fabulous, of course.....but I'll get back to him in a minute. First of all, when you go....you must go early. And I mean really early! We left an hour ahead of time, and by the time we pushed through all the crowds, and finally found our seats, Tony had begun to sing. Don't do it that way!! You've got to make a whole event of it. They allow you to bring in your own food and wine (or whatever alcohol you like)....also, there are all kinds of food and beverages available once you get there. Almost everybody brings a picnic basket......the smart ones get there super early to avoid the rush....they have a leisurely picnic dinner.....leisurely wander to their seats....and enjoy a most fabulous evening under the stars!

The whole atmosphere is just so stunningly sparklingly shimmeringly beautiful.....here you are, seated all up the side of a canyon....out in the open air.....the concert starts as the sun is setting.....down at the bottom of the canyon is that beautiful structure....the icon...The Hollywood Bowl.....all around you are the hills of the canyon, nothing else.....and the sound begins......and it is incredible!

And then, Tony Bennett. What can I say about Tony?!?! He is everything you expect him to be....but with a grand sense of humor. At one point, he joked that he had recorded so many hits when he was young, that he was like the "Britney Spears" of his day! The audience roared with laughter. He did every song you'd want him to do (with the exception of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"....I had soooo wanted to hear him sing that song.....oh, but you can't have everything!).....and even though we were way up in the top most faraway seats.....even though the musicians all looked like ants.....the whole thing still had the sound and feel of being in some intimate little club somewhere. It was magical.

Now go....click on that link up there at the top.....see the history of The Hollywood Bowl.....make some plans.....buy some tickets......and go!!

No, I'm really not a Scorpio.....I picked the scorpion because out of all the designs you could pick...I thought it actually looked the most "elegant".....(well, compared to the other designs) most everything else was either too flowery or too "heavy metal-esque" I wanted something a bit more unique. Originally, I was hoping to get something Egyptian, but they didn't have anything like that. When I picked the Scorpion, the design on paper was actually much smaller....but I think it turned out quite well the way it is.

The trouble now is making it last. You're really not supposed to wash it or it will fade away quickly....so I have to very carefully wash just the palm of my hand and not get the design wet....when I take a bath I have to put my hand in a plastic bag! I'm trying to make it last until the weekend because my parents are coming to visit....and I want to see the look on their faces when I show them my "tattoo." I'll have to savor that for a few minutes before I tell them it's just henna!

Anyway...I found this site called tattoo-me that is all about henna....you can order kits....and it has a lot of good information, if you're interested.

Oh...one last thing....I'm actually a Gemini....but there really aren't any good tattoo designs for that!

Hey there! Sorry to leave you hanging like that yesterday, but it took me about twelve million years to figure out the html on that slide show....by the time I got that working, it was almost midnight, and I hadn't even started my post! So let me try and pick up where I left off.....

On any given day, weekends especially, Venice Beach is like it's own ongoing festival of cultures.....there is always a maelstrom of people, music, food, and art. But the Festival of the Chariots added to that a hundred fold. I went there just to find a photo opportunity and found myself getting really caught up in the whole event. The music was really the driving force....so many cultures were represented....so many types of music.....it was almost hypnotic. When I finally thought I'd seen and heard it all...and was making the long trek back to my car....I gradually started to hear some other sound. Just above the din of all the other music....I could make out some sort of rhythm coming from way out on the beach. There was a big crowd gathered out there....so, of course, I just had to go see...

The sound was so unbelievably amazing.....a circle of drummers....probably 20 or 30 drummers.....all with different types of drums....all drumming....carrying out an impromtu rhythm. There was one guy who was trying to conduct the group slightly, but it was clear that it was a free for all.....if you had a drum...you could play. I wish I had had a drum!!! There is no way to really describe it fully.....they played quiet and loud.....frantic frenzied wild....then calm...quiet....zen....meditation....until pulsing again faster and faster......up and down....30 drummers all adding to the rhythm, the sound. It was a performance that you would pay top dollar to get tickets to, but these people were just out there on the beach, doing it for fun...for the love of it. It was incredible!

After experiencing the drums....I decided to linger a bit more. I was now fully caught up in the whole thing...and decided to get a henna tattoo.

Now, anyone who knows me well, would be saying, "What??!!!!" I'm not a tattoo person at all. I don't think it's a particularly good idea to permanently change your body like that.....fashions change....later you might not like it. My sister has many tattoos......and unfortunately, she is now regretting them. Getting a permanent tattoo is just not something I would ever do.

But, henna is only semi permanent...it lasts for about a week...(still I never thought I would do this.....I was caught up in the moment!).....so I got a henna tattoo.....as you see in the picture above! And amazingly.....I love it! (and I almost wish it was a permanent tattoo....almost!) Really, I should do a whole other post just on the henna thing. When I got home, I did some research on it, and there is a lot of interesting information.

But now.....here I am, bloggggging away....and it's after midnight again! I've got to go to bed!

Tomorrow night....I'm off to see Tony Bennett at the Hollywood Bowl....so I probably won't post anything until the next day. (Isn't it amazing how I go from Hare Krishna and henna tattoos....to Tony Bennett?!!!!) Goodnight everybody!! Stay tuned.......

The Festival of the Chariots. A few days ago, while I was taking my love to the airport, and we were talking about what I was going to do while he was out of town.....he jokingly asked if I was going to go to the Hare Krishna festival....and I jokingly replied, "Uh....Yeah!" But of course, I wasn't really going to go! I had remembered the Hare Krishnas from many years back....usually an odd group of young men with shaved heads, dressed in pale robes, playing tambourines as they danced/marched down the street....trying to suck you in on their religion. Often times, they would be at airports....handing out flowers...in exchange for a donation. People used to talk about how annoying they were....and thought of them as kind of a joke. And then they disappeared. In the last dozen years or so, I've seen less than half a dozen Hare Krishnas. Now, don't get me wrong here....I personally don't have anything against their religion....I think it's a good thing to find one's own religion......I just never thought much about them....never thought I'd go to one of their festivals.

That was until I read about the parade featuring three handmade, wooden, "four story carts" on wheels....I mean, what a photo opportunity! So...I had to go. And it was amazing!! That is, once I finally got there.....I think it took nearly 2 hours to find a parking place that was about 1000 miles away from the main event....and, yes, the parade was over by then.....but, thankfully, the festival was just beginning!

If only you could have been there! As I walked the thousand miles to the event, there were lots of mini festivals going on along the way...all different kinds of music and food, performers and artists, and people....throngs of people. The whole thing just all melded together.....you could "feel the love" (as Emeril would say.)

Now....I want you all to just hold that thought right there....meditate...and feel the love......because this is where I'm going to leave you hanging. Don't worry....I'll give you part two tomorrow.....and besides, this was such an amazing festival, you're going to want to savor it over a couple of days....you don't want to have it all in one post. Right? And I still have to tell you about about the drums, the henna, and my scorpion! Stay tuned....

(P.S. don't forget to click on those little arrows below that picture up there to see the slide show!)